Welcome to the New Space Dock 13!Helping Authors Write Weird, Bizarre, Absurd, Psychedelic Horror-Fantasy Since 1996!(Space Dock 13 is now EelKat.com)(We are also novel-writing-tips.com, a-pink-unicorn.com, & of course are still SpaceDock13.com)

Quaraun Novel Update: Starting in 2014, in preparation for the 40th Anniversary of The Twighlight Manor Series (September 23, 1978/2018), all 2,000+ short stories are being compiled into chronological order, to be re-released as a series of 130 novels. All the original short stories are being republished both here on EelKat.com and on Amazon. In the novels, each short story now stands as a "chapter" in the novels. New scenes/stories are being writing to connect the short stories together into novel format.

How long does it take to reach 1667 words? and 50k in one day - is it possible?

The important thing is not how fast you type, but that you do warm up exercises before you start typing. Stretching your fingers and wrists.

Just like playing sports or a musical instrument, with daily/weekly practice over a period of several months, you will strengthen the muscles in your hands, wrists, and fingers, and be able to type both faster and for longer stretches of time.

If you have never typed before, take it slow and steady at the start and only time for 15 minutes, then take a 15 minute break. You don't want to pull a muscle in your hands, wrist, or fingers (I've done that 4 times now, each time had my arm in a splint for 12 weeks! So I know how much it hurts and how long it'll put your writing on hold!)

While winning NaNoWriMo is great, taking care of your health should come first.

An average of 10,000 NaNoWriMo members are hospitalized each November from

sprained wrists

torn hand and wrist muscles

tendon damage

pinched finger nerves

carpal tunnel syndrome

1 in every 3 cases the damage results in PERMANENT loss of the use of the hand and a writing career ENDED FOREVER

Put your health first!

If anything starts hurting: STOP TYPING!

Do NOT push yourself beyond your limits!

Even if you are a professional writer, career author, reporter, etc, you still should never type for more the 45 minutes to a time. Always stop and take a 15 minute break. Get up and walk around. Stretch your legs, grab a snack, put ice packs on your hands and wrists.

How long does it take a person to type 50,000 words?

If you write ___ words per minute, you'll reach 50,000 words in:

10 wpm > 207 days

15 wpm > 138 days

20 wpm > 103 days

25 wpm > 82 days

30 wpm > 70 days (average for most people)

35 wpm > 60 days (average for most people)

40 wpm > 52 days

45 wpm > 47 days

50 wpm > 41 days (average range for most hobby writers)

55 wpm > 37 days (average range for most hobby writers)

60 wpm > 35 days (average range for most hobby writers)

65 wpm > 32 days

70 wpm > 30 days

75 wpm > 27 days

80 wpm > 26 days (average range for most career authors & journalists/reporters)

90 wpm > 23 days (average range for most career authors & journalists/reporters)

100 wpm > 21 days

125 wpm > 16 days

150 wpm > 13 days (average for most office secretaries)

175 wpm > 12 days (average for most office secretaries)

190 wpm > 11 days

200 wpm > 10 days

There have been tests done by doctors and scientists, and it is a medically proven fact that a person is not physically able to type at speeds of more than 200 wppm for more than 10 minutes to a time or for more than 3 of those 10 minute sessions a day. Therefore I have not included times above this figure.

Keep in mind that these numbers are mathematical averages and assume you are only writing for an hour or 2 or 3 a day.

You end times of how many days to reach 50k will be much less then those listed above if you sit and type for 75 wpm for 8 hours non stop with no break, for example.

The shortest feasible possible time to write 50,000 words, btw, is:

10 hours.

Also the average person does not write consistently at the same speeds, often types very slow for the first hour, gaining speed in the second hour and reaching speed peek in the 3rd hour of each typing session.

Someone high on caffeine may write 100 wpm for several hours, then the next day be very tired and struggle to reach 15 wpm, then most days stay around 50 wpm. These types of fluctuations are normal and expected.

With all these things in mind, your own personal time vs speed to reach 50k may vary dramatically.

Remember...

The goal of NaNoWriMo is to motivate you to make an active effort at getting your novel out of your head and on paper.

Some days you may write 10,000 words, other days you may write 100 words. Both are okay and nothing to stress over.

Some days you may be very productive by doing research and spending hours in a local museum archive reading old diaries, but get 0 words written other then notes. This is fine.

Other days you may be sick or tired or have family responsibilities and get no writing done. Again, this is fine.

Don't get down on yourself for missing days.

Don't worry about days you don't reach 1,667 words.

It's okay if you don't reach 50k in 30 days.

Just because NaNoWriMo last 30 days, doesn't mean you have to stop writing on day 31. If you are serious about getting your novel published, you'll have to keep writing until you reach 120,000 anyways. Then you'll have to edit 4 or 5 times and revise 10 or 12 time, spending another 2 years polishing it into something you can submit to publishers.

In the end, how fast you typed the first draft is meaningless, so don't worry over that aspect and focus on writing the best story you can.

There is no right or wrong speed for typing. Take as much or as little time as you need. Never let anyone tell you, you are typing too slow or too fast. Don't try to type faster then is comfortable, just because someone said you were too slow and don't force yourself to slow down just because someone said you were going to fast.

The goal is to get your book written at a speed that is comfortable for you and will not hurt your hands, not get your book written at speeds right for someone else.

This chart is intended to help you calculate an expected time frame to help you plan your schedule, it is not intended to be used to try to compare yourself to others.

To write 50,000 words in 3 days:

From 2008 to 2012 I reached 50k words in 3 days every year, resulting in a lot of people asking how fast and how many hours a person has to type to reach 50,000 words in 3 days instead of 30...

50,000/3=16,667 words per day

Most of the year I write 7,000 to 12,000 words a day as an everyday part of my writing career. It takes very little effort for me to push myself to a slightly higher word count of 17k.

Most years I strive to write 25,000 words on Day 1 of NaNoWriMo. Then write 15,000 words each on Day 2 and 3. Resulting in a total of 55,000 words written by the end of day 3.

Is it possible to reach 50,000 words on Day 1 of NaNoWriMo?

How fast do you have to type and for how many hours, to reach 50,000 words in one day?

Can the average person type 50,000 words in 1 day?

No.

Here's why:

The average person types 35 words per minute.

The average person is physically unable to type for more than 4 hours in a single 24 hour period (doing more causes sprained wrists and pulled finger muscles)

35 wpm X 60m X 4hrs=8,400 words

This means that the average person (80% of all NaNoWriMo members) can expect to aim for as much as 8,400 words per day MAXIMUM.

While it is possible for the average person to reach 50k in 1 day, it is highly unlikely that they will be able to do so without suffering serious, possibly permanent damage to their hands.

They could reasonably aim for writing 50,000 words in 1 week, however.

Can the average hobby writer type 50,000 words in 1 day?

No.

Here's why:

The average hobby writer (bloggers, fanfic writers, etc) who writes consistently 1 or 2 days a week, all year long, (about 15% of NaNoWriMo members), write at an average typing speed of 55 words per minute.

Because their finger and wrist muscles are conditioned for writing, they are better able to write for 8 hours a day, but are unlikely to be able to sustain momentum after 8 hours per 24 hour period.

55 wpm X 60m X 8hrs=26,400 words

This means that the average hobby writer (15% of all NaNoWriMo members) can expect to aim for as much as 26,400 words per day MAXIMUM.

While it is possible for the average hobby writer to reach 50k in 1 day, it is highly unlikely that they will be able to do so without suffering serious, possibly permanent damage to their hands.

And the 50k in 3 Days instead of 30 Challenge should not be too difficult for them.

Can the average professional/career writer type 50,000 words in 1 day?

Yes.

Here's why:

The average career writer (daily newspaper reporters, freelancers writing 5 or more articles per week, authors who publish 4 or more novels per year, daily blogger, etc) who writes consistently 4 to 8 hours per day for 5 or days a week, all year long, (about 5% of NaNoWriMo members), write at an average typing speed of 90 words per minute.

Because their finger and wrist muscles are conditioned for writing, they are better able to write for 12 or more hours a day, but are unlikely to be able to sustain momentum after 14 hours per 24 hour period. However, typing for 12 hour sessions requires full 48 hours of no typing at all, in between each 12 hour typing session, in order to avoid damage to your hands.

90 wpm X 60m X 12hrs=64,800 words

This means that the average career writer (5% of all NaNoWriMo members) can expect to aim for as much as 64,800 words per day MAXIMUM.

While it is possible for the average career writer to reach 50k in 1 day, it is highly unlikely that they will be able to do so without suffering serious, possibly permanent damage to their hands, and they should wait at MINIMUM 3 days before using their hands again after doing so.

Every year a few hundred people reach 50,000 words on Day 1 of National Novel Writing Month, resulting in lots of questions, accusations, and skepticism as to whether or not they cheated.

Knowing that it was possible to reach 50,000 words in 3 days, because I had done it several times, I decide to join the Write 50,000 Words On Day 1 Challenge, to see, if it could be done and if so, how difficult was it to do. Was it possible that so many people were doing it each year?

The answer:

Yes.

It can be done.

But... it's extremely difficult, and while it is likely that members who are professional career authors can, do, and have reached 50k in one day. It is highly unlikely that many, in any, first time newbie writers have ever done it and likely did "cheat".

Interestingly, when I contacted many of the 50k in 1 day winners and asked what methods they used so that I could try them...

MOST, said they were using voice to text or speech to text software to dictate their stories and had not typed a single word.

The bulk of NaNoWriMo members are quick to classify the dictation method of writing as "cheating". I'm not one of them. Dictating is a valid way of writing your novel.

However, I think comparing TYPING 50k in 1 day to DICTATING 50k in one day, to be like comparing a 1975 Honda Civic to a 2017 Rolls Royce Phantom - both will get you from point A to point B, but one gets you there with muscle cramps from being jammed into a small space you don't fit in, while the other had heated memory foam and butt massagers relaxing you on the way there.

Typing 50k in one day = VERY difficult to do, and requires week long rest periods between each 50k day.

Dictating 50k in one day = VERY easy to do and, heck, you can easily do it every day, and 100k days are not that difficult either.

So while both are valid methods of producing a first draft, they are 2 very different methods that have dramatically different output speeds and a dictator's output is going to be double or even triple the output of someone who is typing.

I find myself deeply disappointed to learn that the bulk of the winners of 50k of Day 1 of NaNoWriMo dictated those 50,000 words rather then writing them, as this discovery told me the likelihood of WRITING 50k in 1 day was slim, if the bulk of the 50k in 1 day winners with DICTATING and not WRITING 50k in 1 day.

In contacting the various HUNDREDS of 50k in 1 day winners to ask their methods, I found fewer than a dozen who had actually WRITTEN/TYPED and not used some sort of speech to text voice activated dictation software.

This lead me to want to test it out myself to see exactly how difficult it was to actually WRITE 50k in 1 day as opposed to dictating it.

One year (2012) I attempted to do 50,000 words in a single day, and stopped at 37,000 words because my wrists started hurting.

The day I wrote 37,000 words on Day 1 of NaNoWriMo I was:

typing at an average of 91 wpm

typed for 8 hours steady

took 15 minute breaks every 45 minutes

slept for 3 days straight after

had to wear hand braces for the week following writing 37k in one day

I believe if I practiced, by spending September and October, constantly writing 25k to 30k words each of 2 to 3 days a week, I probably could get my hand muscles strengthened up enough to do a 50k on Day 1 challenge.

So, yes, I do believe it is possible to write 50,000 words in a single day. Difficult, but very much a possibility.

Will I ever try the 50k on Day 1 challenge again?

Not likely.

I did it before to see if I could, and at that point, my wrists were not strong enough to hold out. Had I done pre-NaNo warm up sprints in the days leading up to NaNo, I probably could have.

But seeing how my goal was to see if I could write 50k in 1 day, and I concluded that at that point I couldn't, but with practice I likely could, I therefore saw no reason to attempt the challenge again.

FINAL THOUGHT...

Every year, people who reach 50,000 words in anything fewer then 30 days, are faced with 10s of 10,000s of hate emails being sent to them calling them cheaters and liars and saying all manner of foul things. In many cases, these hate emails are sent to the members by the forum moderators of NaNoWriMo itself.

If you write more then 50,000 words in 30 days - DO NOT announce you have done so on the NaNoWriMo forums.

Prior to 2011 NaNoWriMo forums were modded by Chris Baty himself and he was on top of keeping the mods in line. Since he retired in 2011, the mod hostility towards members has increased. Since 2016 the FBI has been investigating The Offices of Letters & Light (the company that owns NaNoWriMo) after the deaths of multiple members, the bombing of multiple member homes, the flurry of death threats written by mods,

Since 2014:

7 NaNoWriMo overachiever members have been murdered - in each case a NaNoWriMo forum mod was the primary suspect

12 NaNoWriMo overachiever members have commit suicide - in each case a NaNoWriMo forum mod was the primary in harassing them to the point of suicide

5 bombs have been built, destroying the homes and nearly killing overachiever NaNoWriMo members - in each case the FBI's primary suspect is a NaNoWriMo forum mod

500 cats, dogs, and other pets, have been kidnapped, beheaded, and returned dissected to 140 families - in each case the family had a family member who was a NaNoWriMo overachiever - in each case a NaNoWriMo forum mod is the FBI's primary suspect of these horrific acts of terrorism and animal abuse

Please give any information you have to the identity of this very dangerous criminal group to:

FBI Agent Andy Drewer @ (207) 774-9322

Is NaNoWriMo: A Terrorist Organization?Did You Know The FBI Is Investigating NaNoWriMo For Their Connection To & Support Of A Dangerous Domestic Terrorist Group?

Did you know National Novel Writing Month Has Come Out And Made A Public Statement Saying That They Are a Supporter Of The Ku Klux Klan?

Did you know, that the heads of National Novel Writing Month have put out an official statement regarding their Ku Klux Klan employee Kendra Silvermaner's building a bomb and trying to murder me by blowing up my house?

Offices of Letters & Lights spokesperson Heather Dudley said, "We fully support our MLs in all their actions. The ML is always right. In regards to this matter we have chosen to side with the ML." ~November 28, 2016

Uhm... Heather Dudley said that. She does know that means she is aiding and abetting an attempted murderer, who is wanted by the FBI, you know for attempted murder, right?

The owners of National Novel Writing Month, have REFUSED TO COOPERATE with the FBI agents who were assigned to this case and are knowingly protecting (and therefore aiding and abetting) a known felon who is wanted for multiple counts of attempted murder.

Does she realize that by saying this, she has put out there a public statement saying NaNoWriMo supports building house bombs?

Does she realize that by saying this, she has put out there a public statement saying NaNoWriMo supports cutting cats heads off and nailing them to doors?

Does she realize that by saying this, she has put out there a public statement saying NaNoWriMo supports authors killing authors?

Does she realize that by saying this, she has put out there a public statement saying NaNoWriMo supports domestic terrorism and has pledged allegiance to the Loyal White Knights of The Ku Klux Klan?

Does she realize that by saying this, she has put out there a public statement saying NaNoWriMo supports stalkers, cyberbullies, and trolls?

I do have to wonder, does founder Chris Baty know his company is issuing public statements declaring their allegiance to white supremacy hate groups, specifically the Ku Klux Klan? Or that Heather Dudley is protecting a known terrorist by refusing to release Kendra Silvermander's identity to the FBI?

Are the Offices of Letters & Lights even aware of the fact that one of their employees, Kendra Silvermander, is a member of the Ku Klux Klan, is wanted by the FBI for 11 years of stalking, cyber-bullying, harassment, animal abuse, terrorist attacks, bomb building, and multiple murder attempts? And that their spokesperson Heather Dudley has issued a statement saying that the Offices of Letters & Lights supports Kendra Silvermander in her terrorist activities?

NaNoWriMo employee Kendra Silvermander, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, who claims to be a NaNoWriMo ML is wanted by the FBI for multiple terrorist attacks on local non-white & LGBTQ+ authors.

As a non-white person who lives with daily attacks by the Ku Klux Klan .... daily attacks meaning:

February 2003 bombed my doctor's office and killed him

May 2006 they put my dad in a coma

bombed my house in October 2006

May 2010 cut my car in half

beheaded my cousin July 2013

drove a backhoe over my next house August 2013

September 2013 - put a bomb in my classroom at Southern Main Community College

beat my up leaving me paralyzed 5 month and crippled rest of my life in November 2013

filled my motorhome with 1,000s of gallons of feces April 2015

kidnapped my cats April 2015

returned my cats' heads May 2015; 10 cats currently unaccounted for

August 2015 a woman was beheaded in front of her 4 children, in Saco Shaw's supermarket, in the ice cream department, while trying to buy her children ice cream

November 2015 - put a bomb in my department at Scarborough WalMart

June 2016 - put another bomb in my department at Scarborough WalMart (it was WalMart who contacted the FBI and started the FBI investigation July 2016)

2016 my tires were slashed on 7 different occasions between October and December

April 2017 put my dad in the hospital again, he almost died

May 2017 attacked and rallied at my mom's house - twice

August 13, 2017 - my birthday - murdered 73 pets

September 26, 2017 - 2 days ago smashed up my car...

in all more than 200 such attacks on my family since Stephen King thought to film the Thinner movie on our farm in 1994.

Yes... I've survived FIVE (5) bombings now.

Have Information? Call FBI Agent Andy Drewer @ (207) 774-9322

September 26, 2017The Latest Attack By Old Orchard Beach's Renegade KKK Members Who Use Their Cars As Battering Ram Weapons, To Slam Into Me While Driving Home, Has Done Horrific Amounts of Damage To My Daily Driver:

The car which attacked me on the Ross Road, just outside of the entrance to the Blueberry Plains, was a fairly new model of a Honda minivan, color maroon/burgundy metallic.

As with the previous attackers, this car had no license plates on it.

The driver appeared to be a man, but could have been a woman. Was wearing a straw hat, pulled down over their face to conceal their features.

This is not the first time they have done this. This particular attack however has done several thousand in damages to my car.

It is unknown if this driver was armed, however it should be noted that previous attackers, were armed with illegal automatic rifles, and it is assumed this attacker likely was as well.

The passenger's side of the front bumper of their car has a large pink paint smear on it, from the pink paint on my car.

Do be aware that this group of domestic terrorists, (who call themselves "The Loyalist White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan") are wanted by the FBI and are considered to be heavily armed and extremely dangerous. Their attacks on the non-white, non-Christian, and LGBTQ residents of Old Orchard Beach are becoming more frequent and much bolder. Do NOT approach them if you see them, just call the local police and the FBI immediately and run as far away from range of their gun fire as possible.

Do keep in mind that this group of terrorists are the ones who blew up my house with a bomb October 18, 2006, beheaded my cousin July 2013, drove a backhoe over my next house August 8, 2013, beat me up on November 14, 2013 leaving me paralyzed 5 months and crippled for the rest of my life, filled my motorhome with thousands of gallons of feces April 10, 2015, kidnapped my cats and have been one at a time returning the heads of my cats.

They have done similar things to 140 other families in Old Orchard Beach. In the past 4 years they have kidnapped and beheaded more than 500 cats and dogs. They are also wanted in connection to the murders of 3 police officers and 30+ children, as well as the bombing of the First Care Health Clinic on Saco ave in 2003.

This group of terrorists are incredibly dangerous, if they approach you or attack you, flee from them as quickly as possible - they WILL KILL you.

If you know who did this to my car, please call the FBI Agent in charge of the case to turn them in:

If You Know Where They arePlease Bring Them Home

If You Know Who Is Holding Them Hostage

Please Call FBI Agent Andy Drewer @ (207) 774-9322

Help The FBI Put This NaNoWriMo MLIn Prison Where She Belongs:

Do you know the idenity of this mysterious stalker who calles herself "Kendra Silvermander?; If so, the FBI wants to know, so they can get this dangerous criminal off the streets once and for all.

Interviews With The Thinner GypsiesAbout NaNoWriMo's Ku Klux Klan Member ML and her Attacks on the non-White and LGBTQ Authors of Southern Maine:

September 26, 2017The Latest Attack By Old Orchard Beach's Renegade KKK Members Who Use Their Cars As Battering Ram Weapons, To Slam Into Me While Driving Home, Has Done Horrific Amounts of Damage To My Daily Driver:

The car which attacked me on the Ross Road, just outside of the entrance to the Blueberry Plains, was a fairly new model of a Honda minivan, color maroon/burgundy metallic.

As with the previous attackers, this car had no license plates on it.

The driver appeared to be a man, but could have been a woman. Was wearing a straw hat, pulled down over their face to conceal their features.

This is not the first time they have done this. This particular attack however has done several thousand in damages to my car.

It is unknown if this driver was armed, however it should be noted that previous attackers, were armed with illegal automatic rifles, and it is assumed this attacker likely was as well.

The passenger's side of the front bumper of their car has a large pink paint smear on it, from the pink paint on my car.

Do be aware that this group of domestic terrorists, (who call themselves "The Loyalist White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan") are wanted by the FBI and are considered to be heavily armed and extremely dangerous. Their attacks on the non-white, non-Christian, and LGBTQ residents of Old Orchard Beach are becoming more frequent and much bolder. Do NOT approach them if you see them, just call the local police and the FBI immediately and run as far away from range of their gun fire as possible.

Do keep in mind that this group of terrorists are the ones who blew up my house with a bomb October 18, 2006, beheaded my cousin July 2013, drove a backhoe over my next house August 8, 2013, beat me up on November 14, 2013 leaving me paralyzed 5 months and crippled for the rest of my life, filled my motorhome with thousands of gallons of feces April 10, 2015, kidnapped my cats and have been one at a time returning the heads of my cats.

Since I got beaten up by this weird so-called author, November 14, 2013, still no clue who she is, but she left me paralyzed for 5 months, during which time she hacked my KBoards account, my NaNoWriMo account, my website, my FaceBook, my Twitter, and other places, pretending to be me and written horrible stuff via my accounts. Then she created 52 fake Amazon accounts and left 52 fake and completely identical 1 star reviews on every one of my books.

I was paralyzed 5 months, relearning to walk 18 months... and I was offline for a full 3 years, and had no clue this woman had taken over all my online accounts or had done any of these things, until 2015. :( .

I'm crippled for the rest of my life, on a cane with one leg useless, and only have the use of 1 hand now, and permanent damage to my spine.

I used to publish a novel a month... now because of this still unidentified Kboards member, I've got $3million in medical bills, a bomb also blew up my house so living in my car, can barely move, and am lucky if I can get 1 book typed up a year. So frustrating.

It's been 4 years and I'm still in physical therapy, and it's a good day if I can stand up, let alone walk. Had to cancel the 2015-2018 book signing tour, and had to cancel all the monthly book releases from November 2013 to who knows when... still all canceled and we are closing in on 2018 now.

The Kboards hacker crushed my spine, my hip, my pelvis, and my knee. Tore up all the nerves and muscles. Got a $40million lawsuit waiting for when the FBI finally identifies who the Kboards hacker is. FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation agent's contact info is on my website if you have any info about who it was who hacked my Kboards account 2013 to 2015

They have done similar things to 140 other families in Old Orchard Beach. In the past 4 years they have kidnapped and beheaded more than 500 cats and dogs. They are also wanted in connection to the murders of 3 police officers and 30+ children, as well as the bombing of the First Care Health Clinic on Saco ave in 2003.

This group of terrorists are incredibly dangerous, if they approach you or attack you, flee from them as quickly as possible - they WILL KILL you.

If you know who did this to my car, please call the FBI Agent in charge of the case to turn them in:

Please Call FBI Agent Andy Drewer @ (207) 774-9322

More information about this psychopathic, criminally deranged NaNoWriMo ML & her violent "street team" can be found

2 Have Been Found & Returned

These 10 Are Still Missing

If You Know Where They arePlease Bring Them Home

If You Know Who Is Holding Them Hostage

Please Call FBI Agent Andy Drewer @ (207) 774-9322

The Full Article:

I
joined NaNoWriMo in 2004, went on to become the first "overachiever"
averaging 200,000 words in 30 days, instead of the average 50,000 words.
Since 2006, I have been receiving on average 5,000 to 20,000 emails a
week from fellow writers every October, November, and December, emails
asking me how I did it and if I could advice them on what to do so they
can write 200k instead of 50k in 30 days too.

In
2006 I wrote The 13 Step Method to Writing, in answer to their
requests. In 2007 that was expanded to website known as "EelKat's Guide
To NaNoWriMo", from their the advice column for writers (Ask EelKat) was
created. Today there are more than 6,000 articles answering questions
writers have, not only about NaNoWriMo but every aspect of writing and
publishing in general and thus was born in 2013 EelKat.com the one stop
database for every article I've ever written on writing. EelKat's Guide
to NaNoWriMo is the series of articles that started it all, and here
they are:

You are reading page #5 of EelKat's Guide to NaNoWriMo. If you have just starting reading this, please go back toPage 1to read this entire 50 page article from it's beginning.

"How long does it take to hit 1667 words? and 50k in one day - is it even possible? I think it depends on the quality you're going for. Rough-and-ready bunch of words on a page and a decent first-draft would likely have quite different time requirements wouldn't they? What do you think?"

Depends on my mood - when I'm angry I
can depend on 750 every 10-15 mins, when I'm tired it could take an hour
to do 1000 words, but most days I can plan on 750 words for every half
hour (I try to take a quick 5 min break every 750 words so my hands and
my bum don't wear out from all that typing and sitting)

Also you
really don't need to worry about a tiny amount like 1,667 words, because
it is actually possible to write the whole 50k in one day if you wanted
to.It is possible, it's difficult, but it can be done. I tested it a
few years back to see - I can write 750 word every 15 minutes, there are
1440 minutes in a day, which means that in theory if I wrote non stop
for 24 hours I would have 72,000 words by the end of the day, but that's
extreme for me because I am a very slow one handed typer, at an average
of 32 to 37 words a minute or 440 words every 15 mins.

However
an expert typist can range 75 to 120 words a minute which is 1,800 words
every 15 minutes or 7,200 word per hour or 172,800 words a day. Figure
in a 15 minute break each hour, and you got 54,000 words in 10 hours.
And as it's possible to go 4 days without sleep (at least for me - I
sleep once every 3 days during NaNo) you can keep on typing 24 hours
straight for a total of no less than 81,000 words per day.

50 words per minute is considered average for most authors (33 minutes for 1667 words or 16.5 hours to reach 50k typing none stop)

30 to 40 is considered average for many non-professional typists (42 to 55 minutes for 1667 words or 21 to 27.5 hours to reach 50k typing none stop)

20 to 30 is average for most people who did not take typing lessons (55 to 84 minutes for 1667 words or 27.5 to 42 hours to reach 50k typing none stop )

The world record is 216 words per minute (7 minutes for 1667 words or 3.5 hours to reach 50k typing none stop), but
that was timed by a group of people timing it, and I'll bet several
folks here on NaNo beat that record every year, because I'm always seeing folks reaching 50k shout-outs with in the first 5 hours.

My average tends to be around 37 words per minute most of the year (46 minutes for 1667 words or 11.5 hours to reach 50k typing none stop), but seems to be around 42 to 53 during NaNo (31 to 39 minutes for 1667 words or 11.5 hours to reach 50k typing none stop), and there have been times when I was doing 75+ words per minute (22 minutes for 1667 words or 11.5 hours to reach 50k typing none stop), and my top clocked speed was 1667 words in 19 minutes or 87 words per minute or 11.5 hours to reach 50k typing none stop (which means in theory, I could reach 50k I just 10 hours - less than half a day, if I just keep going once I got in my zone, however in practice I've never been able to reach 50k faster than 3 days.).

When you get in the zone you stop thinking and your fingers just start flying.

Basically, to make this work and be able to type out 50k within the first 3 days, you have to have EVERYTHING (characters, setting, plot, etc) all planned out ahead of time - we're talking months in advance- most folks who do the 50k day thing start planning their outlines in May or June. In about August they start practice speed typing, typing daily for 2 to 4 hour stretches, aiming at 1,000 words every 15mins. By November you know who is who where is where and who'll do what when. Everything is mapped out in your brain, and at exactly Midnight on Day 1 you start typing as fast as you can, not stopping, no breakfast, lunch, or dinner stopping only 5 mins every hour to get a drink and use the toilet then start typing again. Sometime around 9PM or 10PM they should be close to 50k.

Also most of the folks who try the 50k in one day have been doing NaNo for many, many years, and often have careers as full time writers who write huge word counts every day anyways. If you are new to typing it's really NOT recommended that you try a 50k day, because it's like any exercise, and required muscle warm ups and conditioning and practice for months and month, before your finger muscles are going to stand up to that kind of work out.

Know that there have been many newb typists drop out of NaNoWriMo on doctor orders after doing serious carpel damage to their hands during the first few days of NaNoWriMo. Every year there are a ton of threads on the forums saying: "Sorry, I won't be finishing the month my hand is in a cast, I tore a tendon in my thumb, I'm not allowed to type for at least 8 weeks, on doctor's orders.". This is a very serious injury that can cost you the use of your hand so don't take it lightly and don't jump into a 50k in one day goal unless you have spend several months working up to being ready for it. Same way you don't run track without warming up your leg muscles, don't type 50k in one day with out prepping your finger and wrist muscles!

Most years my best one day word count is somewhere between 13k and 17k, but 2 years ago I did 27k in one day and shocked myself because that was nearly double my previous record! My goal this year is to have at least 1 day where I beat that. I'm doing the 50kRDO (50k Ridiculous Day One - a challenge to write 50k on Nov 1st) and the 50kweekend all 4 weekends this year (25k on each Saturday and Sunday).

Hopefully, I will reach 50k on Nov 1st, and 25k each day of the 4 weekends. If I do, I'll end up with 200k, without doing anything typing on the weekdays! And than if I type 15k each day between the weekends, I'll end up with a monthly total of 500k. So I set my goal at 458k and see what happens.

I try this every year and so far have only ever had one actual 50k weekend where I even got close to 50k! LOL!, but I keep trying, someday I'll make it, maybe this year will be the year!) My end goal for total word count this year is to beat my record (238k), so I set my goal at 250k and if I reach that, I'm planning to try for 458k. I aim at 458k every year and every year I end the month between 80k to 238k, but I'm not letting that stop me from continue to set my goal at 458k, because I figure if I keep trying, someday I HAVE to reach it!

And then you must consider that 50k days are not that uncommon. NaNoWriMo was based on the Weekend Novel Contest, which allows you 2 days to write a 100k novel (keeping in mind that 50k is a novella NOT a full length novel) and is not an online contest. but a writing retreat where you actually get together with a live group and all sit together in the same room writing furiously. That contest has been running since the 1960s, currently costs about $300 to enter and has about 2 or 3 dozen winners every year.

But yeah, it's not only possible, but loads of folks do it every year. You just hae to realize that it does take a huge amount of pre-planning, lack of sleep, and being uniterupted by family/friends/pets/phone/TV/etc.

So, don't worry about getting to 1,667 a day, because I am a terribly slow typer (32 words a minute - most typers on NaNo average at least 50 words a minute, and someone with a secretary type training [which I did have, explaining why I can force myself to type this way if I have to] does 75 to 120 words a minute) averaging 32 words a minute - 440 words every 15 mins or 1,760 words every hour and I usually plan on writing 3 times a day (as soon as I wake up, on lunch break, and just before bed) so even a snail's pace typer like me rarely has a day of less than 5,280 words!

I'm one of the top overachievers every year for 6 years in a row, twice I've had the world's top word count, 8 times I've had the top word count for my state, I think a lot has to do with the author and past experience in writing. A new author, who is uncertain about their confidence or publishability, sure, they are going to be more careful and write slower, and try to write what they think publishers want. An experienced published author with a large readership and several years of writing, is going to know ahead of time what fans and publishers expect of him/her and will have no trouble speed typing a first draft that is publishable as is, simply because they have a lot of practice already.

Take myself for example:

I joined NaNoWriMo 2004. Failed. Tried again in 2005. Failed again. 2006, I discovered the Dares Thread and made up for both previous fails with a 183k win, and then won every year since at no less than 200k each year, the past few years reaching 250k. I've set my goal at 275k and 300k a couple of times but so far I always top out at 250k. Joined Script Frenzy the year it started (was that 2006 or 2007? I forget) Failed the first two Screnzies, then became the Screnzy ML and that got me motivated to never lose again. Done Camp NaNoWriMo twice, failed both times. Gee...what a trend...I've failed the first 2 times I've tried each contest! I guess that means I should win the next Camp? LOL!

Genre wise, I typically do a multi blend mix of horror, romance, sci-fi, a bit of fantasy, a lot of gore and splatter punk, and some random erotica/porn that shows up whenever I can't think of anything to write so I just start tossing characters in bed together for no reason. Technically what I write is called Dark Satire Gorn, but NaNo doesn't have that category so I usually change my novel genre setting every few days to reflect whatever the topic of the day is. ;)

Thanks to ancient dares from I think 2005, every NaNo I have ever done features the following: a demon possessed shovel that causes everyone who picks it up to go on a mindless killing spree, characters obsessed with eating shrimp dinners, vampires allergic to rancid yak butter, and the past 3 years have seen the addition of glittering vampires: vampires who wear pink sequined tuxedos!

Last year the Dare thread had me including talking pudding and herds of rampant penguins running down Main St, the year before that is was vampire chickens and alien abductions thwarted by pizza. Wow does it all come out a mess! But a fun mess. What will the Dares Thread have me writing this year?

Most NaNoers look at my style and shudder in horror saying: "But that stuff isn't publishable! No one is going to read that kind of insanity. Readers want serious writing." Do they? Are you sure? Okay, maybe some readers do, sure, but are they YOUR readers? If I tried to write a straight faced serious novel, I'd lose thousands of readers. Why? Because that's not my style, my fans know that's not my style, and what's more, they wouldn't be my fans if that was my style, because it's not the style THEY want to read.

Sure I'm an underground writer published in tiny Indie presses. Nope, I have never aimed at the mainstream or the big publishers. That's not my audience. Know your audience. Who are your readers? What do they read?

My readers? They want something that reads like Rocky Horror Picture Show dropped into Alice in Wonderland and whisked away on the USSEnterprise. No that mad capped horror fun feast in space in not a high demand style, no you won't get rich with it, no I'm not saying you have to write what I write. What I am saying is every writer is different, and every writer is going to have a unique set of readership, so every writer has a different audience to focus on.

That said, I'm also a NaNo Rebel. I DON'T WRITE NOVELS! I never have, not once in 18 contests!

For NaNo instead of writing a novel in 30 days, I typically write a couple of short stories a day, each ranging from 750 to 5,000 words, usually, based totally on the Dares Thread - I grab a dare, write a short story about it, grab another dare, write another short story, and so on, often using about 200 - 300 dares each November.

For Script Frenzy I write 10 ten page short plays instead of one 100 page one, again with the Dares Thread as my guide. As insane as my writing may get however, my goal for NaNo is always publication.

My 2008 NaNo autobiography was published as a book, as was my 2007 non-fiction NaNo "On Being Homeless" and most all of my short stories have been published in one form or another in a wide range of various places. The autobio (a 700 page book when published) and the non-fiction (a 250 page book when published) are the only 2 serious things I've ever written for NaNo, both drawing on real life experiences and written in 1st person diary format. Everything else (18 OLL contests worth of them) has been written by use of the Dares Thread, with no prior plotting or planning.

People always ask what I do for character creation in my stories, seeing as I use the Dares (and not pre planned plots) to write during NaNo (which is the secret to my super high word counts - no plot planning, just following the instructions of the next Dare on the list = lots and lots of saved time - every minute spent worrying about plot is a minute you are not writing!). So, I'll answer that part now so you don't have to ask.

Okay, I was a published author long before NaNo was ever thought of. I have a full time career as a writer, so I write on average 10,000 words a day about 250 days a year, for many years long before I joined NaNo, so the only difference between my November writing and the rest of the year, is my November writing is not preplanned and is allowed to run wild plot wise. In other words, if I wasn't doing NaNo I'd still be writing 250k word this month anyways, just like last month and the month before, and so on.

My first story, Friends Are Forever, a Tale of The Twighlight Manor, came out in 1978. Between then and 1994 I proceeded to write 200+ short stories, all inspired by the first one. In other words I write a long running serial, which currently contains about 75 fully developed characters, each having been used as a main character in their own story at least once.

The Twighlight Manor Series follows a single family through many generations starting in 1313 and ending in 2525.

The Twighlight Manor Series is not written in chronological order, meaning I could write about the members living in the 1600's today and the ones in the current era tomorrow than the ones in the 1800's the next day. The family are aliens who crash landed on earth. Folklores like Faeries and haunted houses are treated as real, so fantasy and horror creatures, though rare, can logically be in the stories.

That said, when I grab a dare out of the Dare Thread, I ask myself, which character would do this? Which character should this happen to? Etc, and then instantly drop that character into the dare and start writing. In other words, in order for you to do what I do and try to write 250k in 30 days, you really need to be working with a setting and characters that are well established far, far before November starts, so you don't have to do any kind of character or setting creation at all, you just grab random plots and start writing. If you spend Nov creating characters and settings, you'll never reach the mega high word counts. So, now you know, so you don't have to ask. O. K. ?

All that said, I very much write off the top of my head by the seat of my pants, nearly always writing at minimum 7,500 word a day and almost never edit any of it, these are being published AS THEY ARE these mad capped "rough drafts" are given a once over to check for spelling errors and then sent off to the publisher as is, and published without any changes at all.

Granted as I said I've been writing for near on 40 years and have been published for more than 30 years and have a large steady fan following always ready to buy everything I put out, so maybe it's harder for NaNoer with less experience to write high speed first drafts that are publishable from the get go. But to say it can't be done at all, that's a big no-no because I'm living proof that it can be done and is done often, year after year.

So, my point is, every writer is different. Some are going to write slow, others fast, others at mid speed. Some are going to write for an audience, others for themselves only. Some will be writing stuff that needs extensive editing others will publish it as it came out with no editing at all, and in the end, none of this is really going to affect the speed of typing, because your typing speed is what it is, regardless of errors and need for editing (both of which have to do with experience as a writer, not speed of typing).

Yeah, for some folks it's about speed and word count, and sure folks will look at what I just said and say of me, she's all about speed and word count. Nope. Actually, I'm not, because like I said, I also typed up 150k words last month and will do it again next month too.

Why?

Because that's what pays the bills. I am a full time professional career based writer and 150k words a month is just my normal average speed of writing. I can easily toss up 50k in a weekend if I wanted to, and I often do toss up 50k in a weekend several times a year, thus NaNo's 50k is not a challenge for me at all, writing 50k for me is just more of the same old same old and I'm in NaNo to give myself a challenge.

For me 50k is simple, 150k is typical, 200k is hard but still in my normal range, 250k is me pushing my limits, so 250k is my personal NaNo goal, because it drives me to step outside of my personal comfort zone and try to type just a little bit more than I normally would.

So, to say that 50k in a day is all about speed and word count may not be true for everyone here, because you don't know what they do for writing the rest of the year. NaNo is about challenging yourself.

If you don't write at all, then just reaching 10k in 30 days may be your goal, to heck with reaching 50k.

See? There are folks who just want to see if they can do it, and NaNo is a great way to test yourself.

And besides, not every one's goal is to get published. If your goal is not about publishing than there is no reason to worry about overall readability. Sure, my goal is publishability, and I personally would not be able to write 50k in one day and then publish it as is. I'm pretty certain I can do 50k in a day, based on what I've done in the past, however, as I said the most I've done in one day was 23k and in the end, that was an unpublishable load of crap. I discovered, yes I can write at speeds to make it to 50k, but I write crap when I write at that speed, so reaching 50k suddenly was no longer an important goal for me. Yes I can do it if I had to, but was it worth it? I decided that for me, I'd rather stick with less words per day and have it be publishable in the end, because if there's one thing I hate, it's editing! I know if I don't write it right the first time, I'm not going to go back and edit it, thus it will never get published, and then means that I just wasted my time writing those words, because to me it's pointless to write something if no one will ever read it.

My point is, NaNo is about personal goals. Do what you need to do, to reach your own goals, and don't worry about other writers' goals and motivations, don't worry about proving yourself to anyone here on NaNo, just prove yourself to yourself alone and be happy with that. That's my way of thinking, at least.

Besides anyone who does it to "show off" or "look good on the forums" will quickly be shot down by dozens and dozens of hate filled NaNoMails calling them every bad name under the sun, accusing them of cheating and lying, etc, etc, etc, so they'll learn fast that there's no glory in reaching 50k in a day or 100k in 30 days or 250k in 30 days or whatever their end count is. They'll end up feeling really bad about their win, if they only did it to prove themselves to others. If they did it for personal reasons then no amount of hate mail will rain on their parade. You got to do it for yourself.

But people can and do write 50,000 words in a single day and they do it often.

Consider this:

It takes 20mins to type 1667 words.

20mins x 30days is 600mins.

600mins / 60mins = 10hours to reach 50k.

If you sat down and typed non-stop you could finish your entire NaNo"Novel" in just 10 hours. Less than half a day.

Less than half a day.

You can write 50,000 words in fewer than 12 hours.

"I think it depends on the quality you're going for. Rough-and-ready
bunch of words on a page and a decent first-draft would likely have
quite different time requirements."

I disagree with this as well, I'm one of the top overachievers every
year for 6 years in a row, twice I've had the world's top word count, 8
times I've had the top word count for my state, I think a lot has to do
with the author and past experience in writing.

A new author, who is
uncertain about their confidence or publishability, sure, they are going
to be more careful and write slower, and try to write what they think
publishers want.

An experienced published author with a large readership
and several years of writing, is going to know ahead of time what fans
and publishers expect of him/her and will have no trouble speed typing a
first draft that is publishable as is, simply because they have a lot
of practice already.

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UPDATE: November 2015: The page you are on now, was written in 2007 and updated every November until 2014 - It was last updated October 31, 2014 and there are no future updates planned for it, as after 10 years of doing it, I have retired from "traditional" NaNoWriMo and am now doing a different writing goal each November.

For the current NaNoWriMo 2015 update see THIS PAGE (which includes the first public release of my Dares Generator and information on how I use it to reach 50,000 words in 3 days instead of 30 days, along with info on how I reached 537,000 words in 2013 and thus changed my writing goals for NaNoWriMo.)

UPDATE: October 31, 2014 -

Due to a major hacking of my online accounts, and the theft and plagiarism of some 1,371 of my how-to articles for writers, I am now removing from public access MOST of my How To Guides for writers. They will return at a future date, but henceforth they will not be available for free. I'm tired of shit-head thieves stealing my work and passing it off as theirs. I'm sorry, to those of you who were not creeps and trolls, I know it's not fair to you, but, the hacking was done by a local person did a lot more damage than you know - the vandalism to my house and cars and the murders of my pets and death threats to my family, are not something I take lightly.

Until we can get to the bottom of this and get this jackass stalker out of my life, I am simply not able to leave my articles online, due to the court case that is now brewing over this. I am also leaving NaNoWriMo, because the local NaNoWriMo ML Kendra Silvermander is the cousin of the man doing the harassment, stalking, vandalism (which included blowing up my house with a grease fryer bomb) and has been not only stealing my how to guides and posting them on the NaNoWriMo forums as her own, but also shows up at local restaurants to threaten me and my family while we are trying to eat. I am utterly disgusted that NaNoWriMo allows a filthy, thieving, vandalizing, scum bag like this to continue to year after year, inciting anti-EelKat riot threads on the NaNoWriMo forum, while continuing to allow her to steal my articles off my web site and post them to NaNoWriMo's website as hers.

This article you are reading now, is one of the few, I have not taken down, it is however drastically shorted. My mega long 20,000 word how to articles are ALL removed now, with only and the ones that remain are stripped of most of the info, with only the barest minimum required to answer the reader question - in many cases the articles are 90% shorter then when they originally appeared, most now under 2,000 words instead of their 20,000 word originals.

Complete Index of EelKat's Guide to NaNoWriMo(Including The ORIGINAL 13 Steps To Writing Method)

MANY of these pages are changed to private viewing only now, and or have had most or all of the original content removed - see note above for reason why.